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Said Benrahma scored three goals in this season's Europa League
After Tomas Soucek's late goal, West Ham are now on the brink of reaching the Europa League knockout stage. They draw with Genk in David Moyes 1000th match as manager.
Moyes has accumulated more than enough experience over his nearly 24 years in the dugout. He knows that sentiment is meaningless and his team had to win in Belgium.
Benrahma reacted to Vladimir Coufal’s clever pull-back to tie the match at halftime. Then, he added a charming individual effort nine minutes later to win what seemed to be a victory.
With three minutes remaining, Soucek accidentally turned a cross into his net. They will now have to wait until they confirm their qualification.
The Hammers were slow to start at Cegeka Arena. Junya Ito was passing Joseph Paintsil and Alphonse Areola couldn't stop the forward's low strike.
Moyes' team is currently at the top of Group H with 10 points. There are two games left and a win by either side in Thursday's late fixture zwischen Rapid Vienna and Dinamo Zagreb will ensure that the Hammers prevail.
Moyes reaches the 1,000 mark
Moyes' first game as a manager was before Declan Rice, England's most important player, was born. The rest of Moyes' squad will likely not remember that the Scot took charge of Preston's victory over Macclesfield in Jan 1998.
Moyes is now 35th on the League Managers Association's 1,000-game list. His side are unbeaten in six final matches.
If the visitors had stayed on their lead, there would have been even more reason to celebrate.
Moyes wants West Ham to reach the last 16 in a European competition. This is the first time they have been there since 1980-81, when they were eliminated in the Cup Winners Cup quarter-finals against eventual champions Dinamo Tbilisi.
They started slow in Belgium, and fell behind to Paintsil's opening goal in the fourth minute. Areola had to stop a header by Paul Onuachu shortly after.
The Hammers struggled for 20 minutes to keep up with Paintsil's side, which they defeated 3-0 in the reverse fixture.
Before the interval, Rice and Benrahma had quick chances. Moyes made a three-way switch shortly after to try and change his side's fortunes.
They soon tied the score in 52 minutes through Benrahma. The forward added an excellent second half eight minutes later thanks to clever footwork and a low finish which fizzed under goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt.
Genk, who began the day at the bottom of the group was not able to give up, and Soucek went beyond his goalkeeper to share the points.
Player of the match Benrahma Sad Benrahma, with an average 8.64 KRC Genk KRC Genk KRC Genk
West Ham West Ham United West Ham United KRC Genk Avg Squad number 28 Player name Paintsil Average rating 6.12 Squad number 26 Player name Vandevoordt Average rating 5.93 Squad number 7 Player name Ito Average rating 5.74 Squad number 18 Player name Onuachu Average rating 5.53 Squad number 23 Player name Muoz Average rating 5.48 Squad number 33 Player name Lucum Average rating 5.47 Squad number 3 Player name Mujaid Sadick Average rating 5.41 Squad number 77 Player name Preciado Average rating 5.39 Squad number 21 Player name Ugbo Average rating 5.36 Squad number 42 Player name Thorstvedt Average rating 5.29 Squad number 5 Player name Arteaga Average rating 5.22 Squad number 17 Player name Hrosovsky Average rating 5.18 Squad number 8 Player name Heynen Average rating 5.02 Squad number 24 Player name Oyen Average rating 4.94 West Ham United Avg Squad number 22 Player name Benrahma Average rating 8.64 Squad number 41 Player name Rice Average rating 7.54 Squad number 10 Player name Lanzini Average rating 7.27 Squad number 20 Player name Bowen Average rating 7.22 Squad number 3 Player name Cresswell Average rating 7.18 Squad number 8 Player name Fornals Average rating 7.07 Squad number 5 Player name Coufal Average rating 6.96 Squad number 13 Player name Areola Average rating 6.88 Squad number 15 Player name Dawson Average rating 6.62 Squad number 23 Player name Diop Average rating 6.32 Squad number 28 Player name Soucek Average rating 6.27 Squad number 9 Player name Antonio Average rating 6.24 Squad number 33 Player name Krl Average rating 6.08 Squad number 16 Player name Noble Average rating 6.00 Squad number 26 Player name Masuaku Average rating 5.86
